


a banked fire, subterranean heat

by Talls



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, F/F, Girl Direction, after seeing sashayed's hunger games girl direction post for the 1000th time i had to do something
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-18 01:19:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4687025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talls/pseuds/Talls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam catches her arms before she can hit her. Zayn stills, but Liam still holds her arms in her grip, firm but not painful. Never painful. Liam is always so gentle with her, far too gentle to be in the Games. Far too gentle to be with Zayn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a banked fire, subterranean heat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rave](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rave/gifts).



> This was inspired by Rave Sashayed's girl direction hunger games post on tumblr, so if she wants me to take it down I totally will, but the last part of the post really stuck with me, so I really felt like i needed to write it. post in question is here: http://sashayed.tumblr.com/post/119898227415/ok-but-how-would-you-style-girl-direction-for-the 
> 
> right now its probably sashayed with two d's at the end though...

Zayn is fighting a faceless enemy. She doesn't know who they are, but she knows they have to die. Their face changes every half second, a slideshow of all the people she has killed, but she pays them no heed. She has a mission, an objective, and she isn’t questioning it. She can’t, too much is at stake. She finally gets the opening she has been waiting for, and she steps in, slides her daggers into the enemy’s chest. They fall, and Zayn stands over them as their face slides into Safaa’s wide-eyed stare. Zayn’s mouth falls open in horror, as Safaa chokes on her own blood, and she screams and screams and -

“Zayn please, wake up, please, it’s a dream, it’s just a dream, please look at me.” Zayn lashes out, but Liam catches her arms before she can hit her. Zayn stills, but Liam still holds her arms in her grip, firm but not painful. Liam is always so gentle with her, far too gentle to be in the Games. Far too gentle to be with Zayn.

“Liam? Why are you here?” Zayn asks. Liam purses her lips and relinquishes Zayn’s arms. Zayn immediately misses the contact. 

“You were screaming.” Liam says, in a neutral tone. Zayn’s cheeks heat up, and she looks down at her hands, fiddles with the sheets. 

“Oh.” She says, and offers nothing else. 

“Are you okay?” Liam asks, and Zayn looks up into her brown eyes, and nods once. Liam nods back, touching the back of Zayn’s hand, and getting up to leave Zayn alone again. 

“Wait.” Zayn says, and Liam turns back to her. “Could you, I mean, would it be okay if you-” Liam wrinkles her brow. “Stay. Please.” Zayn finishes. 

“Oh. Of course.” Liam says, taken aback. Zayn shifts to the side, making room for Liam on the expensive Capital bed. Liam gets under the covers quickly, with minimal fuss, and turns to Zayn. She looks a bit conflicted.

“Can I-” She motions with her arms, miming hugging, and Zayn nods rapidly. 

“Yes. Please.” Zayn says and Liam breathes in deeply and moves closer. 

Liam wraps her arms around Zayn gingerly, making sure not to jostle her. Zayn curls into Liam’s arms, pressing her face into Liam’s neck. Liam runs warm, and she feels like safety. In the first Games, when she would spend nights with Liam in that cave, she would fold herself into Liam, and pretend, just for a few seconds, that she was back home with her sisters, her family. She still associates the feel of Liam against her with that momentary feeling of safety, of love.

Zayn pulls her face away from Liam so she can look at Liam. Her eyes are dark in the dim light of the bedside table, concern written in her gaze. Zayn’s eyes drop to Liam’s soft lips. She was acquainted with them, but she never really allowed herself to enjoy the experience. She had more pressing concerns at the time, chiefly not dying. Now though, in the relative quiet of her room, Liam strong and kind next to her, the fear in her veins slowly dissipating, Zayn thinks that she could savor one kiss. Just one real kiss, before they enter hell together. Again. 

“Do you want the light on or off?” Liam asks in a soft voice, breaking the silence between them. 

“Either is fine.” Zayn says, at a loss for anything else to say. Liam nods, and twists to turn off the light. The room plunges into darkness, and Zayn pulls closer to Liam. She’s still facing Liam, and she can feel the puffs of air on her cheek, where Liam is breathing in and out. Zayn thinks suddenly that if she asked Liam to kiss her, she would. Of course Liam would, she offers up all of herself for Zayn all the time, never expecting anything in return.

“Liam?” Zayn says, her voice too loud in the still room. 

“Yeah?” Liam responds immediately, as if she was waiting for Zayn’s inevitable demand or request. 

“Why do you always come when I scream?” Zayn says, half afraid of the answer. Liam is silent for a long moment. 

“I can’t imagine myself not wanting to hold you. I can’t imagine myself not wanting to make you happy.” The words are stark, raw in the dark, and they seem to hover in the air, suspended with their breaths. The adrenaline is still running through Zayn’s blood from her dream, and the darkness, the faked anonymity, gives her courage. Gives her hope. 

“Kiss me.” Zayn says. She phrases it like a demand, but her tone is desperate. It’s not a request, its a plea, it’s a cry for help, for forgiveness. Liam inhales sharply, and she tenses. She doesn’t pull away, thankfully. If she had tried, Zayn would have held her closer. She is selfish, she knows it, she uses Liam and both of them know it, but she needs Liam, and she won’t give that up. She knows Liam’s steadfast adoration has to have an expiration date, and she will use up as much as she can before she reaches it. 

Liam cups her face, and Zayn closes her eyes, and leans forward, lips parting in anticipation. Liam tilts Zayn’s head downwards, gently, and kisses her forehead. Zayn gasps and her eyes fly open, and flutter shut. Liam cradles her face in her hands, like Zayn is something precious, something to be handled with care and sweet adoration. Zayn asked for a kiss, and Liam gave it to her, offered her unconditional love and absolution in the same gesture. 

Liam pulls away, and Zayn jolts at the sudden loss. Liam pulls her closer, and Zayn tucks herself under Liam’s chin.

“Go to sleep Zayn. I’ll be here when you wake up.” Zayn closes her eyes pressing closer to Liam’s skin. 

She dreams of strong, gentle hands, soft lips and the smell of freshly baked bread.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked it! my tumblr is tallsinspace.tumblr.com
> 
> comments and kudos are all i love...


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